1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a discharge display device and in particular to an improved display device which requires fewer leads and/or allows lower voltages to be utilized.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Discharge display panels utilizing X-Y matrices are known for displaying characters or figures. FIG. 1 illustrates a partially sectional view of a display device of the prior art in perspective with a conventional X-Y matrix discharge display panel (of the plasma display type panel PDP). FIG. 2 comprises a cross-sectional view of the structure of FIG. 1. The discharge display panel has a face plate 1 and a rear plate 2 and anodes 3 are mounted parallel to each other and cathodes 4 are arranged parallel to each other and extend at 90.degree. to the anodes 3 and the arrangement provides an X-Y matrix between the face plate 1 and the rear plate 2. The anodes 3 are separated by barrier ribs 5 and the anodes 3 and the cathode 4 are driven by AC or DC voltages. The number of leads required for driving the anodes and cathodes comprises the sum n of the anodes (X electrodes) and the number m of cathodes (Y electrodes) and thus the number of driving electrodes is very large. This results in high cost of the device.
FIG. 3 is a partially broken away perspective view of a self-scanned type discharge display panel which is known as a display panel of the Burroughs-type. This display panel has scan electrodes 6 embedded below the cathodes 4 in addition to the anodes 3 and the cathodes 4 which are arranged in the X-Y matrix. The trigger discharge between the scan electrode 6 and the cathodes 4 is line sequentially among the cathodes 4 and is transferred by self-scan. The display signals are thus applied to the anodes 3. According to the matrix intersections determined by the display signals thus obtained and by self-scan the trigger discharge is guided to the display regions comprising the display cells for display.
The self-scanning trigger discharge may not jump between adjacent cathodes 4. Due to this fact, in a discharge display panel of this type, the cathodes at stated intervals are commonly connected into a plurality of groups and the individual groups are sequentially driven. For this reason, the number of driving electrodes need be only one for each of the cathode groups which results in simplification of the overall circuitry. However, this advantage requires a much more complex structure for the display panel.